The invention resides in the field of introducing fluid pumps into a lumen and relates to a system for introducing a pump into a lumen, which comprises a first sheath and a pump to be introduced into the first sheath, or a system which has a pump with a distal pump unit and a shaft catheter which emerges proximally to the pump unit.
The application can hence be provided, on the one hand, in the minimally invasive medical field, for example as a blood pump for heart assistance, and, on the other hand, also use in agitators or as a drive element is conceivable.
The invention can display special advantages by the possible miniaturisation in the medical field. Techniques for introducing fluid pumps, in particular into natural body lumina, are known in detail in prior art. Thus reference is made inter alia to the Seldinger technique for introducing an introducer sheath into a vascular system. The technique and possible variants are intended to be explained in more detail with reference to FIG. 1.
A schematic human vascular system 1 is shown in FIG. 1. In the groin region there is one of the femoral arteries 2 which is connected to the aortic arch via a main artery and subsequently opens into the ventricle 4. With the help for example of the Seldinger technique, firstly an introducer sheath 10 is introduced into the femoral artery 2. Firstly, the femoral artery or any blood vessel is hereby punctured with a steel cannula with a cutting tip. A guide wire 12 is pushed through the steel cannula introduced into the puncture and is introduced retrogressively via the aortic arch 3 into the left ventricle 4. After removing the puncturing cannula, the first sheath 10 which is configured as introducer sheath and comprises a tubular portion 11 is threaded onto the guide wire and introduced into the vascular system through the punctured point, the sheath being introduced into the lumen of the vascular system merely by a small distance. Subsequently, a fluid pump is introduced into the vascular system through the introducer sheath 10.
Such a method is known for example from WO 02/43791 A1. After the introducer sheath, as represented in FIG. 1, has been introduced into the vascular system, a heart pump is pushed forwards along the guide wire 12 into the left ventricle 4. The pump, in particular a distal pump unit, is thereby pushed outside the sheath through the vascular system towards the ventricle.